Opening Guesthouse or Hostel in Madagascar

I suggest you start by applying for your long term Visa on your next trip. The process is long and plenty of paperwork.  I would also include you open up a bank account with one or two  local banks in the area you plan to settle.  Whatever village you travel to or hotel you stay in you could ask what hotels are for sale  in the area that you may  want to consider buying.  I am guessing you already have experience in the hotel service industry.

Hi Eric

I am danish and have settle in Madagascar.

Arrived with a little of the same dream project and today we have build our second house on the beach at Ambatomalama, which is 15 km north of FoulPointe which is the most popular place for locals living in Tana to go on holiday and 5 km before reachIng Mahambo village, also a popular place since from here you can catch the boat to Sainte  Marie.

I rent out on AirBnB. We do not have many clients, though we get a 10/10 feedback. Guess there are not enough tourists visiting Madagascar. This you need to keep in mind not constructing  a lot of bungalows. As well the tourist visiting are usually not staying more than a couple of days due to they all arrive on a very busy program.

Our advantage is we are fare away from touristic city's. The beach is empty except from the local fishermen pulling up their pirogue in the morning.

Among the locals we have a very popular surf break which means ‘they' pass on Sundays to surf.

Now, why I am telling you all this is to be carefull with placement. The infrastructor in Madagascar is not good, so getting to fare away in distance from Tana might not be a good idea. Also when having to shop for your guests it can become an issue if you are to fare away.

I can help you source a piece of land here in the bay. You will feel isolated and still have reasonble short distance to the villages.

Regarding settling in Madagascar it is not that complicated 😉

Kind regards,

Mikkel

Hi mikkel

congratulations on turning your dream into a reality! i recently visited madagascar & loved my time there.

Do you have citizenship? my research suggests a forigner can not own land or a full business? a native has to own 51% share? how much are rents for a small apartment or cafe type building? id love to return but ideally need a way of making money!

keep up the good work

richard